Volume XXV Number 19 May 11, 2001

FrontPage Stories

Happy Mothers Day

Jessica
Marie Marquez (12) and her mother Lupe Marquez of National City.
Jessica shares a poem she has written about her mother.
A mother like you must be the dearest of all Gods
creations. I cant think of anything as sweet as your love,
or as precious as you. I love you so much. I am so thankful for
the gift of a mother like you. It would be nice if I had an extra
special message for you, something never said before to express
how much I love you and appreciate you. But the best message I
could say is thank you for caring so much about me and for being
a part of my life. I thank God for this gift to me. The gift of
you.

Teresa Quezada (28) and her daughter Stephanie Quezada (8).
Stephanie attends Central Elementary School in Imperial Beach.
I love when my mommy makes me espagetti and
when she gets me snacks like Oreo cookies and sour bubble gum.
This Mothers Day Im going to get her a nice present
and say that I love her too much because she has taken care of
me a lot. My mommy likes angels, and my grandma told me about
a little angel that costs one dollar and something. I have one
dollar and something, so I will surprise her with this.

Maria Sanchez
and her sons Manuel Sanchez (10) and Jorge Amparo (5). Manuel
attends Sherman Elementary School in Barrio Logan.
I love when my mom makes me sopa de queso and mole. For
Mothers Day well make chiles rellenos together. I
will help her wash and cut the lettuce. We wish all mothers peace
and good luck on this day and all year.

School Board Member John de Beck Outraged Over
Removal of San Diego
High PrincipalFrom the Office of John de BeckSan Diego school superintendent Alan Bersin and Chancellor
for Instruction Tony Alvarado, abruptly removed long-time district
principal Tony Alfaro from his leadership position at San Diego
High School. According to School Board Member, John de Beck, the
immediate buyout was a complete surprise and was never discussed
with the school board in an official meeting. The board met on
May 8th, but San Diego High School governance team members were
not notified until May 7th that Alfaro would be removed by May
9th.

AnalysisLabor Fights For ImmigrantsBy David Bacon
OAKLAND, CA - Even though she was working 40 hours a week
at the Valencia St. Travelodge in San Francisco, Matilda (last
name withheld), who moved to the US from Mexico a decade ago,
couldn't afford to clothe her four children. "First I go
to churches where they give clothes and food away," she said.
"When school begins, we get pencils and books from the Salvation
Army. If it wasn't for this kind of help, we couldn't live in
San Francisco."

Program Changes Health of Latino Community One
Vida At A TimeBy Yvette tenBergeCarmen Gonzalez* (name changed to protect privacy) starts
this Tuesday morning as she does most mornings. She rises to make
the eggs and oatmeal for her family's breakfast and sets the cereal
boxes, low-fat milk and orange juice on the table. Her husband
and the two of her six grown children who still live at home sit
at the small kitchen table and quickly consume their meals in
order to make room for the grandchildren. As usual, Ms. Gonzalez
eats standing. As the small house empties, she clears the table
and wipes down its red and white checked, plastic table cloth.
She washes the dishes and sets them on a towel on the counter
to dry.

Tijuana's Ecoparque: Decentralized Water Treatment
and Water Reuseby Greg BloomTijuana is a city of steep, close hills and hills make centralized
wastewater treatment plants expensive and large consumers of energy
as sewage must be pumped over hill after hill until it reaches
a large, often foul-smelling treatment plant that can cost close
to US $1 billion to build. Many of Tijuana's hills are also crowded
with homes or are covered in grasses that are brown much of the
year. Other hills show signs of severe erosion or scars where
they were cut into so as to create level building sites.

Editorials

EditorialDuchney Launches Misguided Congressional Redistricting
ProposalGloria Penner, KPBS- FM radio political pundit, interviewed
Ms. Denise Ducheny in a recent broadcast. Ms. Ducheny told Ms.
Penner that she thought that the 50th congressional
seat, now held by Congressman Bob Filner, should have its area
extended to include Imperial County! She implied that Imperial
County had only 140,000 residents and, therefore, wasn't big enough
to deserve a Congressional District. She neglected to say that
Imperial County is in the 52nd Congressional District,
the district that Congressman Hunter currently represents. It
was created (gerrymander) 10 years ago in order to provide him
with a safe seat. He knew he didn't appeal to the Democrats in
the South Bay area and that he would not survive reelection.

EditorialBersin & Alvarado, Darth Vader Regime
In Control of SDUSD!Unknown to the teachers, parents, professional staff,
administrators and the minority members of the School Board of
Trustees (De Beck & Zimmerman), Tony Alvarado, the hired gun
brought in by Superintendent Alan Bersin, has decided that he
was going to fire the whole administrative team. Principal of
San Diego High School, Tony Alfaro, who has been with district
for 25 years, was one of those to be ingloriously dismissed for
reasons unknown at this time. He was not even allowed to hand
out the graduating diplomas to the graduating Class of 2001!

CommentarySenators, Congressmen and EZLN are Acting
like Kindergarten KidsBy Enrique Davis-Mazlum
Mexico City - On April 25, 2001 the Senate (El Senado de la
República) approved the Bill: "Law of Rights and Customs
of the Indigenous Pueblos and Communities" with 109 votes
in favor (all parties voted in favor) and on April 28 the House
(Camara de Diputados) approved the same Bill with 386 votes from
legislatures from the National Action Party (PAN), Institutional
Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Green Ecological Party of México
(PVEM).

CommentaryPlanned Parenthood Program Aims to Decrease
Teen PregnancyBy Sylvia BarronLatinas in the United States have a lot to celebrate in terms
of ever-increasing educational and professional opportunities.
Without a doubt, our daughters enjoy greater rights and liberties
than our mothers did in this country. But a recent government
study reveals that Hispanic girls in the United States are seriously
lagging behind their non-Hispanic counterparts in one critical
area - declining the rate of teen pregnancy.

CommentaryAttorney General Releases New Training
Curriculum For Long-Term
Care FacilitiesYour Legal Duty... Reporting Elder and Dependent Adult AbuseBy California Attorney General Bill Lockyer"Let me know if she is dead." That's what a nurse's
assistant said she was told after three trips back and forth between
the elderly patient and the in-charge nurse in a California nursing
home last year. The response was from the in-charge nurse. The
resident was dying, suffocating on her own bodily fluids. The
assistant asked several times to have the tube going into the
patient's mouth checked and cleared, but the nurse refused. The
patient drowned. This case, investigated by the California Department
of Justice's (DOJ) Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse, is
currently being prosecuted.

Book
ReviewFantasy Medical Mystery Comes to LifeBy Daniel L. MuñozFrom the moment that Europeans sailed across the abysmal,
uncharted waters of the Southern Atlantic to confront the unknown
world that lay beyond, superstition and fear became part of their
daily lives.

Under the wing of Moses, Zeke Moreno begins journey
to make the Charger rosterUSC's defensive MVP, Zeke Moreno didn't know what to expect
heading into the recently held NFL draft, but when his phone rang
and he learned that he was a San Diego Charger, he could hardly
believe his ears. Moreno, the 6'2" 245 pound linebacker out
of USC by way of Castle Park High is the younger brother of Chargers
quarterback Moses Moreno. Both brothers are excited about the
coming season and the opportunity to compete for spots on the
same team.

San Diego Spirit Gets First Win Over FreedomThe San Diego Spirit scored the first goals and recorded
the first victory in franchise history as Shannon MacMillan scored
once in each half to lead the Spirit to a 2-0 victory over the
Washington Freedom.